HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
FRIDAY, 15 MAY 2020
CHIEF EXECUTIVES BOARD
Yesterday, the Secretary-General brought together the Principals of 31 UN system entities in a virtual meeting of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board (CEB). This is the longest-standing and highest-level coordination forum of the UN system.
The Secretary-General gave an overview of the state of the world, reflecting on the future of multilateralism, beyond the immediate response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as on the risks brought by the current crisis for human rights, global governance, ethics, and international cooperation.
COVID-19/PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as part of its support to authorities in the Kasai-Central Province, the UN Mission installed containers in the central prison, located in Kananga.
The containers will be used as quarantine quarters for detainees with suspected cases of the virus. The Peacekeeping Mission has also supported the central prison in other ways, including by providing staple food items.
In the Central African Republic, the UN peacekeeping mission have launched a COVID-19 sensitization campaign in Bria. The campaign involves motorcycle taxi drivers, who deliver messages with megaphones.
The UN Mission has also conducted a media training for journalists from local radio stations on coverage of the pandemic. This included tips to help prevent the spread of rumours and disinformation.
The UN Mission in Mali has provided prevention kits that include masks, soap, hand sanitizer and laser thermometers to commanders of the reconstituted Armed Forces.
Radio MIKADO FM, the radio station operated by the Mission, has shared virus prevention messages in local languages and sensitization radio programmes with over 63 local radio stations across the country.
Working in partnership with an International NGO in the Mopti region, our peacekeeping colleagues have also conducted awareness-raising activities and distributed hygiene kits to a school. The Mission also installed a public handwashing station at the school’s entrance.
COVID-19/LESOTHO
While Lesotho has only recently registered its first confirmed case of the virus, the UN team on the ground, led by the Resident Coordinator, Salvator Niyonzima, has been supporting the Government’s efforts in addressing the pandemic in areas including public health and the economy.
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is also helping in setting up systems and guidance for surveillance of COVID-19 cases and contact tracing.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is helping the Government to spread information about the virus over the radio and on social media.
The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) is focusing on preventing and addressing violence against women and girls, and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) is redirecting resources to address the immediate socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic with the Government and partners, and that includes the World Bank.
COVID-19 has also resulted in a migration emergency in Lesotho and its neighbours. The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) is assessing the plight of migrants returning to Lesotho, with many people living on the border with South Africa needing food, shelter, and obviously, medical attention.
SAHEL HUMANITARIAN UPDATE
In the Sahel, in a joint statement issued yesterday, eight UN agencies and NGO partners working in the region, they say that the crisis is now affecting the highest number of people ever recorded.
The group warned that 24 million people, half of them children - currently need life-saving assistance and protection. The deterioration of the security situation has also led to ever-growing numbers of displaced people, within their own countries and across borders.
Rising hunger, inequality and the direct and indirect consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are compounding this crisis. This includes a reported rise in gender-based violence.
There are 4.5 million internally displaced people and refugees in the Sahel. There are 12 million people who are food insecure at crisis and emergency levels. And 1.6 million severely malnourished children.
Aid agencies aim to provide assistance to 17 million people and require $ 2.8 billion to do so. So far, only 18 per cent of the amount has been received.
NIGERIA
In Nigeria, our humanitarian colleagues tell us that aid services will resume for 42,000 internally displaced people who are sheltering in a secondary school in Ngala in Borno State. Humanitarian assistance was suspended for a month after an attack against an aid worker.
Yesterday, there were meetings to ease tensions between displaced people and humanitarian partners, who are providing food, shelter, water and sanitation, health, and psychosocial support, among other services.
Aid workers have also been trained on virus prevention measures and they are setting up handwashing stations across camps in Borno State and quarantine shelters.
WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME/ AIR SERVICES
Today, the World Food Programme (WFP) launched an international passenger air service to bring humanitarian and health workers from Ethiopia to Tanzania. The Flight was the first of its kind since commercial air services were suspended in Tanzania, as part of the country’s efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
The passenger air service is part of WFP's global system to provide logistics support for the pandemic response.
As we mentioned a few days ago, WFP's air bridge system is based on Global Humanitarian Response Hubs where supplies are manufactured - in Guangzhou (China), Liège (Belgium) and Dubai (UAE) –and regional hubs in Ethiopia, Ghana, South Africa, Malaysia, Panama and Dubai.
Flights operate between the global and regional hubs, and a fleet of smaller planes move cargo and humanitarian personnel into specific countries, such as Tanzania.
Once the service is fully operational, WFP expects to maintain regular flights to key locations around the world.
In Tanzania, flights for humanitarian and health workers are expected to take place every week.
COVID-19/MYANMAR/BANGLADESH
In Bangladesh, the UN and our partners have stepped up the response to COVID-19 in Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar following the first confirmed case there of the COVID virus. In addition to one Rohingya refugee testing positive, one member of the local Bangladeshi host community has also tested positive.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says there are serious concerns about the potentially severe impact of the virus in the densely populated refugee settlements which are sheltering some 860,000 Rohingya refugees. Another 400,000 Bangladeshis live in the surrounding host communities.
These populations are considered to be among the most at risk globally in this pandemic.
For its part, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is preparing a specialized treatment center with 210 beds, while providing personal protective equipment in Cox’s Bazar. UNICEF is also supplying safe water and soap for 240,000 Rohingya refugees, more than half of whom are children.
The World Food Programme (WFP) issued an urgent call for $320 million today to provide food and cash transfers to the most vulnerable families in Bangladesh in the midst of the pandemic.
At food distribution sites in refugee camps, WFP is ensuring physical distancing. It is using loudspeakers in camps to circulate information about food distributions and virus prevention strategies.
WFP is also continuing to prepare for the approaching monsoon season, which could further complicate the current situation. Last year, more than 4,000 refugee families were displaced in a 24-hour period during one of the heaviest downpours.
COVID-19/BELARUS
In Belarus, where there are more than 25,000 confirmed cases of the virus and nearly 150 confirmed deaths according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN team, led by the Resident Coordinator, Joanna Kazana, is supporting the Government’s efforts to ensure access to health services and social protection, particularly to the most vulnerable people.
The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) are stepping up services and cash assistance to migrants and refugees and are setting up an information hotline.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) are supplying thousands of liters of disinfectants and antibacterial soap, as well as gloves and masks.
To address social exclusion, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Red Cross Society have joined forces with a global tech company to encourage and coordinate volunteers to help older people during the pandemic.
CENTRAL AMERICA
In Central America, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) today warned that escalating violence and insecurity, coupled with COVID-related restrictions is exacerbating hardship for tens of thousands of people in the region.
As of the end of last year, violence has forced some 720,000 people to flee their homes. Almost half of them are now displaced within their own country, while others have fled across borders.
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF FAMILIES
Today marks the International Day of Families. The day provides an opportunity to promote awareness of issues relating to families and to increase the knowledge of the social, economic and demographic processes affecting them.
This year, this Day comes at a time of one of the most challenging global health and social crises. The COVID-19 pandemic brings into sharp focus the importance of investing in social policies protecting the most vulnerable individuals and families.
The UN added that it is the families who bear the brunt of the crisis, sheltering their members from harm, caring for out-of-school children and, at the same time, continuing their work responsibilities.
And at a time where some of us are away from their families and others are spending a lot of time with their families, that is a very important day to note.
